Bicycles as Employee Gifts

Two years ago, Ikea did something revolutionary (quite literally). They gave every one of their 12,400 U.S. workers a bike as a holiday gift.

Ikea chose a bike as a way to say thank you to its employees and to reward them all year long. “We hope this bike will be taken in the spirit of the season while supporting a healthy lifestyle and everyday sustainable transport,” commented Mike Ward, IKEA US President.

You might think that the giant retailer gives extravagant gifts like this every year. Not so. The year before, employees received a $50 restaurant gift card. The bike gift was truly special.

Ikea received some criticism for its bike choice. Critics said that it was cheap and wouldn’t hold up. Not having seen or ridden the bike, I can’t say for sure, but this leads me to another bike gift story where the bike itself was extraordinary.

Clif Bar Co-CEOs Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford wanted to surprise each of their 300+ employees with a custom PUBLIC bike as part of the company’s 20th Anniversary.

Public Bikes took its V3 and painted it Clif Bar red with matching rims and rear racks, and added a Clif Bar logo head badge and message “Born on a Bike – Kitchen Crafted – Family & Employee Owned” on the frame. Each bike has a custom decal with the employee’s name and year they started working at Clif Bar.

The Clif Bar story is such a great example of how you can turn a bike into a really special gift. For details, read the blog post at Public Bikes.

Bikes are great as employee gifts and rewards and to commemorate a special occasion like a company anniversary or milestone date.